THE SONTARAN STRATEGEM

Gosh did I spell that right? Anyway David's terrific in this again. So is Tate and Freema. I love seeing Martha and think it's funny how they DON'T FIGHT, both being much more mature than Sarah and Rose AND putting the conceited Doctor in his place in more ways than one. Love how Martha is working for UNIT but really how long did it take her and UNIT to discover that the factory workers were...taken over? And Martha walks right into a trap. Frankly, I could have done without the entire Martha clone storyline subplot, it seems like filler and added nothing to the story at all.

That said, I love the rest of this. The Sontarans are again short, very short and have that flair and even though as the Doctor says "this is not the Sontaran way", the plot is well done. Cars as weapons is a scary plot and well done here. Donna's return home was funny as she leaves the Doctor who at first thought she was leaving for good and poignant as she sees Wilf from across the street and runs to him. Sylvia is as annoying as ever but in part two she proves her worth. Love Wilf's second meeting with the Doctor.

Luke really is annoying, isn't he? It's very hard to feel sorry for him as he thought 52 or 57 deaths at the same time was "cool". Had he not orchestrated all the deaths he might have been a sympathetic character but as a villain, misguided or not, yeah more misguided, he's pretty good and somewhat deep. He's more pathetic as he gives into a cultish feel and joins in with the Sontaran chant of SontarHA...a chant I"m still not sure I like. It makes them seem so...silly but...undecided about it. Still, this is much better than Helen's Dalek story and the sense of threat is thick. UNIT seems a bit stupid here though, having ATMOS in their cars and not checking out the entire factory!?

The Doctor is just as brilliant as he and everyone else always says he is here. His escape from Luke's university is just great and his ability to get out of the jeep (hey, how'd he open the doors when the journalist in the opening couldn't?) and to stop it is marvelous. NOt sure about his ranting about guns when he's sort of enjoying it all. Love Ross Jenkins, too bad he dies later in the story...maybe he doesn't? Maybe he's just fighting DEMONS?

Anyway a good story and a good first part despite some filler (the clone of Martha)...and why would Sontarans want to clone humans anyway? But a good story nevertheless and good music, locations and lines for Donna, Martha and the Doctor. Also not sure I like Martha's rushed Doctorate. I DO like that she is engaged to Tom Milligan and that she compares him favorably to the skinny Doctor. "HUg him and you get a paper cut," Donna says.

The cliffhanger makes the Doctor look either stupid or callous or uncaring. Or helpless. While Wilf is stuck in the car and the other cars are all going gassy, the Doctor instead of breaking the glass, runs into the middle of the street watching...what? The cliffhanger take root? It also appears that Sylvia ran into the house but actually she's getting something to smash the window of the car with, smart lady. It's actually a good cliffhanger but the Doctor should still be trying to open the car and get WIlf out not standing uselessly in the street while Donna shouts for him!